Life is full of happy days and sad days, the latter being more common in life. A happy day is that day when everything seems to go well with life and loved ones, though these happy days are also different from each other due to the degree of happiness they impart. The happiest day of my life is the day when my elder brother graduated from the IIT, Delhi. One would wonder why and how should that event make me so very happy, that, I earmark it as the happiest day of my life. Yes, I call this day as the happiest day of my life up to now as, that day gave me a lot physically, mentally, and even financially. My elder brother is ten years senior to me and, I was still in the Seventh Standard last year when my brother passed out of the IIT, Delhi, completing his graduation in Engineering. His result was announced in May. It was the 17th of May I remember, as, it was also the first day of my summer vacations. I was all set and relaxed for the long summer vacation when this happiest day came. My brother came home at about 11 am and informed Mummy about his result. The news was hardly breathed out to Mummy that, the house forthwith reverberated with sounds and feelings of happiness. Mummy at once gave a ring to Daddy in his office giving him the news and, lo and behold believe me the telephone bell rang, rang and rang, all full of congratulations for us. I had never, yes, never seen such enthusiasm in our home, and so many good wishes and congratulations pouring in. I felt that the whole house and I were at once placed on a high pedestal, and as if we were all on top of the world. It appeared to me as if the whole world or at least the entire society was in search of my brother. Within an hour or two, there was as if a stream of relatives and friends pouring in to wish us- my parents and my brother. For the first time, I now learnt that there was so much enthusiasm in our family circle, and, all this because for the last three generations, the family had not produced a...

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...﻿Happiness and Virtue: Julia Annas
“Virtue and Eudaimonism”
Annas begins by taking stock of contemporary virtue ethics. She notices that there has been a resurgence in thinking about morality from the perspective of virtue (areté), however, at the same time, it seems as though we have not likewise taken guidance from the ancients in terms of thinking about happiness (Eudaimonia).
She thinks that to focus on the one without the other is to miss the point. After all, it is tough to make sense of the idea of virtue – understood as proper functioning – without understanding the purpose at which virtue aims: the happy or eudaimon life
So, the structure of her paper will be as follows:
She will first explore the idea of ‘virtue’ from the perspectives of both modern and ancient theories.
Next, she will explore the concept of ‘happiness’ from each of the perspectives.
Finally, she will try to synthesize, and in her words, ‘transform’ each concept into a more robust notion of each.
Virtue – Modern and Ancient:
Annas notices that our concept of virtue is utterly a mess; even contrary sometimes. She notes that people just have no clear sense of what a virtue might be and how we ought to incorporate it into our lives.
She writes (p. 247):
It is as though we realize that virtue is a powerful normative notion, and would like to make more use of it, but have somehow lost our grip on what it is.
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...Happiness Is Acceptance
What is happiness? Oxford Dictionaries define it as “the state of being happy”, which also means the state in which someone shows pleasure or contentment (Happiness, n.d.). In actual fact, however, happiness means differently to everyone as we are all looking and yearning for different kinds of happiness in life. Does being rich and successful means that you are happy? Some say it is enjoying life while others say it is the appreciating the little things in life, such as eating and sleeping. Many people are frequently looking around; searching for the happiness they want in their lives, yet not everyone manage to find what they are looking for.
There is a quote by psychologist Carl Jung, “Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose it’s meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.” Without those sad and disappointing moments in life, how would we know what it means to be happy and what happiness feels like. Happiness is acceptance. It is accepting the past and present, and accepting ourselves for who we are.
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...
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2013 September 18
Happiness in Modern Society
Most people struggle in their lives because of a common reason: seeking for happiness. Happiness is defined in the Webster dictionary as the state of well-being and satisfaction. Out of this definition, which seems to be too general and comprehensive, people tend to offer their own interpretations. Some people believe that happiness exists wherever there is money. I don’t completely agree with this idea because I think how we use money is more important than how much money we have, in order to get happiness. Moreover, apart from money, there are many other things that can make people happy, too. To find out what really matters to our happiness and why we all struggle for seeking happiness, the book Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton will be the best source. By writing this book, Botton sends a message to everyone: to live in a happy life, we must avoid the causes that make us unhappy, such as lovelessness, expectation, and some other factors; beside that, we also need find the solutions to gain happiness that Botton mentions in the second part of the book such as philosophy, art, polictics, religion and bohemia. In my opinion, in this modern American society, happiness is simply earned by doing three things: first, avoiding the “lovelessness”; second, making as much money as you can and...

...It is an agreed fact that all the creatures want happiness and are afraid of pain and grief. The question, however, is 'what is real happiness?' What really is called happiness? The desire for happiness has no meaning without understanding the real nature of happiness.
Generally, ordinary beings consider sensual pleasures as happiness and their attempts are also directed towards these. According to them search for happiness means search for pleasures of the senses. The question 'what is happiness' does not arise in their hearts, because in their hearts they treat life full of sensory joys as a happy life.
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...in time, we were truly happy. It was a much simpler time indeed where we were much simpler people, un-phased by the un-necessary pressure we now put on ourselves to acquire the next big thing. Yes times have changed now, and so have we. We no longer cherish the simpler things in life and have instead replaced them with the finer things. To most people in our society today, happiness isn't defined by the people we love and the times we share with them, but rather the cars that we drive and the new iPod Touch that we bought. And as we've changed over the years, so have our feelings about what makes us happy, and that's perfectly okay to a certain point. It's very understandable that freeze tag and an intense game of four square doesn't give us the same amount of joy in our adult lives as it did in our adolescence. But what does? It's as if for years we dated our beloved partner Simple Happiness in a lasting and sustained relationship. And as we grew up, we grew apart and finally parted ways, leaving us to gigolo from one method of happiness to another and never be able to maintain that constant level of happiness that we once enjoyed. I would argue that the best way to regain that relationship between us and the things that make us happy is to remember the simpler times and take time to enjoy the things and the people around us rather than dwell on the things that we desire.
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...October 1, 2012
Happiness : The Key To Life
Hap-pi-ness : the quality or state of being happy. One crucial standard for living is being
able to be happy. Happiness can be found in an numerous amount of ways. It can be found by
buying inanimate items that help us better our life or it can be found with communicating with
someone. To truly reach full happiness you need to recognize that everything in your life if
good and accept that you can be happy with individuals that help shape your life.
Many people feel as if they are unable to live without many of their precious belongings
but, some would be happy to give them up or throw them away. It is extremely difficult to look
face to face to someone and find an acceptable answer to the question “ Can happiness be
bought? ”. Achieving happiness can be a very simple thing ; for instance the life of a cat. Cats
do not have many possessions / items yet they seem very happy and enjoy their lives. Cats have
a reliable friend and are constantly loved by someone or another cat. They have everything to
be happy so why shouldn't they be? This can relate to humans because not many people have
the same items or electronics as others yet they are happy with the simplest of things. As an
example; homeless people receiving a meal on thanksgiving while others just think its another
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Happiness Over Everything
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...
Happiness
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